Zepto’s IPO filing reveals fast growth, bigger losses, and a valuation question nobody’s answered yet

Indian quick-commerce startup Zepto has unveiled plans for an archetypal nationalist offering that could beryllium valued astatine astir $1 billion, putting 1 of Y Combinator’s biggest bets extracurricular the U.S. connected the way to nationalist markets.

The filing, released Monday, offers a uncommon look astatine however 1 of India’s astir intimately watched startups plans to prolong its breakneck maturation aft listing. Zepto’s advertizing gross roseate much than 151% year-over-year to ₹16.4 cardinal (about $171 million) successful fiscal 2026, outpacing the company’s 104% summation successful operating gross to ₹115.5 cardinal (around $2.4 billion).

While market deliveries stay Zepto’s halfway business, the faster maturation of its advertizing limb points to a broader displacement successful however the startup makes wealth — a strategy Amazon pioneered, turning its marketplace into 1 of the world’s astir profitable advertisement businesses by selling visibility to the aforesaid merchants competing connected its platform.

Founded successful 2021 by Stanford dropouts Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto has grown into 1 of India’s fastest-growing startups, competing with Zomato-owned Blinkit and Swiggy’s Instamart successful the country’s fiercely contested quick-commerce market. Amazon and Walmart-backed Flipkart person besides intensified their efforts successful the conception successful caller months.

Despite the aggravated competition, Zepto has continued to adhd customers and orders astatine a accelerated clip. The startup processed much than 640 cardinal orders successful fiscal 2026, per the draught prospectus, astir treble the erstwhile year, portion the yearly transacting users roseate to astir 48 million. Even arsenic it expanded its web to 1,139 stores, orders per store continued to increase, suggesting request is increasing alongside its footprint.

That maturation comes astatine a cost, however. Zepto remains loss-making, reporting a nett nonaccomplishment of ₹59.1 cardinal (about $617.36 million) successful fiscal 2026, compared with ₹47.0 cardinal (around $492.45 million) a twelvemonth earlier. The startup acknowledged successful its filing that it whitethorn proceed to incur losses and whitethorn not beryllium capable to prolong its humanities maturation rates, a modular but telling disclosure that highlights the hostility facing venture-backed companies seeking public-market investors earlier reaching profitability.

Zepto plans to rise up to ₹80.1 cardinal (about $837.41 million) done a caller contented of shares. The IPO volition besides see an offer-for-sale of up to 113.5 cardinal shares by existing investors including Nexus Venture Partners, Contrary, and Razor Ventures, with the last size of the merchantability babelike connected the eventual pricing of the offering. The startup besides said it whitethorn rise up to ₹16.02 cardinal (about $167 million) from investors successful a pre-IPO placement up of the listing.

The listing is acceptable to supply a intimately watched result for immoderate of Zepto’s aboriginal backers. The startup was valued astatine $7 cardinal successful its past backing round successful October and counts Y Combinator, Lachy Groom, Nexus Venture Partners, StepStone, Glade Brook, and Lightspeed among its investors.

Several salient shareholders — including Y Combinator-affiliated funds, Lightspeed, StepStone, Groom, and Glade Brook — are not participating successful the IPO’s offer-for-sale, opting to clasp their stakes arsenic the startup prepares for its marketplace debut. That’s worthy pausing on: Zepto’s public-market valuation remains uncertain, and immoderate communal funds and household offices that reviewed the institution up of the IPO person indicated valuations good beneath its past backstage round, according to radical acquainted with the matter.

Zepto’s founders, the filing revealed, received summonses from India’s anti-money laundering agency, the Enforcement Directorate, successful April, seeking accusation related to overseas investments, the company’s shareholding structure, and different matters nether the country’s foreign-exchange laws.

The 2 subsequently appeared earlier the bureau and provided the requested accusation and documents. Zepto said it has not received immoderate further connection from the regulator since, but cautioned that it could not regularisation retired aboriginal inquiries, investigations, oregon penalties.

The projected listing marks the culmination of a years-long effort to hole the startup for a home marketplace debut. Zepto relocated its ineligible location from Singapore to India past year, joining a increasing fig of startups restructuring their holding companies arsenic section nationalist markets go progressively charismatic for tech listings.